Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) now supply nearly 60% of the calories consumed by adults in the United States and about 70% of those consumed by children. These industrially produced foods include soft drinks, ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, packaged snacks and processed meats.
They are typically made with refined fats and oils, added sugars, salt and other additives designed to improve flavor, texture and shelf life, often while lowering nutritional quality.
A growing body of research has connected greater UPF consumption with a variety of health problems. Scientists have proposed several ways these foods could potentially contribute to cancer, including disruptions in metabolism, increased inflammation and oxidative stress, as well as changes in the gut microbiome.
Until now, however, relatively little evidence has examined whether high UPF intake is associated specifically with prostate cancer in men.
About the study
New research from Florida Atlantic University suggests that men who consume more UPFs have an increased risk of developing prostate cancer.
The study analyzed nationally representative data from 17,024 U.S. men ages 18 and older who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2003 and 2023.
To estimate UPF consumption, the researchers analyzed two 24-hour dietary recalls from each participant and calculated the share of daily calories that came from ultra-processed foods.
Participants were then separated into four groups, ranging from those who obtained less than about 20% of their calories from UPFs to those who obtained more than 44%.
Prostate cancer risk rose by about 30%
Compared with men in the lowest UPF consumption group, those in the three higher intake groups had a 29% greater risk of prostate cancer. Men in the two highest consumption groups had a 30% greater risk.
The association remained statistically significant after researchers adjusted for age, race and ethnicity, smoking, and poverty status. Following those adjustments, the increased risk ranged from 24% to 31%.
Men in the single highest intake group showed a possible 34% increase in prostate cancer risk. However, that result did not reach statistical significance, which the researchers said could reflect the smaller number of prostate cancer cases within that group.
These findings add to emerging evidence that UPFs have major adverse health effects and underscore the need for large-scale observational studies and randomized trials to adequately test the hypothesis.
Growing health concerns around ultra-processed foods
Previous research has linked greater consumption of UPFs with higher risks of overweight and obesity, metabolic disease, inflammatory markers, cardiovascular disease, especially heart attacks and strokes and premature death.
The authors describe the new findings as another piece of evidence in a broader public health debate in which they argue that the priorities of the food industry can conflict with the needs of the U.S. population.
They compare the situation with tobacco, noting that evidence about the dangers of cigarettes began accumulating in the middle of the previous century, yet decades passed before the overall weight of the evidence and the work of forward-thinking public health officials produced policies aimed at reducing smoking. The researchers believe UPFs may follow a similar trajectory.
Source: The American Journal of Medicine, August 7, 2026.
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